Special and Differential Treatment (S&DT) Implementation modalities

Developing and least developed country Members can implement the Agreement pursuant to the Special and Differential treatment provisions of the Section II. These provisions link implementation commitment with implementation capabilities (*1). Developing and least developed country Members can request a longer timeframe and assistance before taking up their commitment.

Categories of commitments

The implementation modalities foresee the categorization of commitments into three different categories – A, B, C.

• Category A: Implementation upon entry into force of the Agreement or within one year afterwards for LDCs
• Category B: Implementation after a transitional period following the entry into force of the Agreement
• Category C: Implementation on a date after a transitional period and requiring the acquisition of implementation capacity through the provision and assistance of capacity building

Notifications

Developing and LDC Members have to notify the categories according to a timeline set out in Article 15 and 16 of the Section II. These notifications become an integral part of the Agreement. To check a Member’s notification you can visit the notification database on the TFA Facility.
The timing when these notifications have to be submitted differs between developing and least developed country Members:

• Timeline for developing country Members
• Timeline for LDC Members

Developing countries have to notify the categories A, B, and C at entry into force of the Agreement, i.e. 22 February 2017. LDC Members must notify the A, B, and C categories 1 year after entry into force of the Agreement, i.e. February 2018.
Article 19 provides for a mechanism to shift provisions between categories B and C after the initial notifications.
The WTO Secretariat has prepared a template for the notifications and a guide on how to fill it – both available on the TF Facility. Notifications have to be sent to the WTO Committee on Trade Facilitation, with a copy to the WTO Central Registry of Notifications (CRN).

Implementation dates

• Category A commitments have to be implemented within 1 year after entry into force of the Agreement by LDC Members, and at entry into force by developing country Members. But for categories B and C implementation is delayed to a date after a transitional period defined by the Member itself.
  The implementation dates are notified in two successive rounds.
• For categories B, Members first notify indicative dates, and the definitive dates 1 to 2 years after the initial notification.
• For category C, developing country Members have 18 months from entry into force to notify the definitive dates LDC Members have until August 2023 to notify the definitive dates.

An early warning mechanism allows developing and LDC Members requesting additional time in case the Member experiences difficulties in implementing a provision of the categories C and B by the definitive date. – Article 17. Extensions are automatically granted in case of a maximal 18 months extension for developing countries, and a maximal 3 years extension for LDC Members. Longer extensions need to be approved by the Committee.

Furthermore, Article 18 covers situations where a LDC Members looses the ability to implement a category C commitment, or where developing ad LDC Members have not been granted an extension period but still self-assess a lack of implementation capabilities. The Committee must individually examine the situation and recommend how to address the capacity gap.

(*1) Article 13:2 “Where a developing or least-developed country Member continues to lack the necessary capacity, implementation of the provision(s) concerned will not be required until implementation capacity has been acquired.”